Salt Lake City airport expansion underway

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City travelers in the next decade will catch expansive views of the Wasatch range, move faster through security and have more shops to choose from once crews finish work on a $1.8 billion airport, officials said Friday.

The update is overdue, they contend, on the 50-year-old facility that original builders did not anticipate would become a major airline hub.

“We need today a modern and efficient airport that can serve not only Salt Lake City but the entire intermountain region,” Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker told about 150 people at a Friday ceremony.

Bulldozers have rolled onto a sandy lot southwest of the current facility as the reconstruction begins this week. The redesign trades in the current three terminals for a single broad one and is scheduled to open in two pieces: the first half in 2019, and the second in 2022. It incorporates three levels, with one designated exclusively for customs and international travel. Another will hold a lounge, conference and meeting space.

A planned expansive greeting area caters to families sending off or welcoming home Mormon missionaries from their two-year sojourns. It’s unofficially labeled “the living room,” intended to be more inviting and warm than typical waiting areas.